A Trip Down Memory Lane
by MissMeggs
Summary: The explorers go hunting and run into characters from their past. Special Challeng entry. R&R!!!


Dedication: This is for Suzie Q- There is no way I could have done it without you! You are a great friends, editor, and typist (LOL!!). It's good to know I've got someone to call on in a pinch. Love Ya! -MMJ   
  
Author's notes: This was for the special edition Challenge at Carolyn's I apologise for all spelling and grammar errors! And for any words you may find (ie-weedled) that are not official, they are now!  
  
Disclaimer: There not mine... unfortunately!  
  
  
A Trip down Memory Lane  
  
  
Marguerite Krux smiled to herself as she watched the four youngest members of the Treehouse family blow messy kisses over the balcony rail to George Challenger, Veronica and Ned Malone, and her own children's father; Lord John Roxton, as the foursome left the Treehouse to go on a hunting trip.  
  
She had been left at home to care for the children because of her current condition. She sighed as she put her hand protectively on her swollen abdomen. Roxton never let her go any further than the Zanga Village when she was pregnant. She had learned that the last two times. Not that she minded. Her eight-year old son William Roxton and five year old daughter Faith were the best parts of her life, well except for the handsome hunter who had stolen her heart.  
  
Marguerite chuckled to herself. The only hard part about the next two days for her would be keeping her two children out of trouble. The Malone children, Emily and Arthur were delightful, quiet children. Emily was six, and Arthur was only three, and lagged around a lot.   
  
She gazed down at the four children who had suddenly become silent.  
  
"Mommy, we're bored!" Faith said as she tucked a stray strand of curly hair behind her ear.  
  
"Already?" Marguerite gulped.  
  
"What should we do?" Will asked.  
  
"I want to draw, Auntie Marguerite." Arthur begged, tugging on her skirt.  
  
"Teach us about the plateau please." Emily asked politely.  
  
"How about we do both," Marguerite suggested. "I'll tell you about the plateau, and you can draw a map for us to use."  
  
"A map of the plateau?" Emily perked up. That sounded interesting. Her mother had recently been teaching her to draw well.  
  
"Yes, now let's get set-up." Marguerite directed. She helped the children collect Veronica's art supplies and set things up at the kitchen table.  
  
"What's first Mommy?" Faith asked, curiosity filling her big grey eyes.  
  
"Well, where do we start and finish all of our adventures?"  
  
"The Treehouse!" They all yelled excitedly as they rushed to draw the object on their map.  
  
"Right." She grinned, as she silently wondered how Roxton was doing.  
  
  
  
"I hope that the kids will be alright." Challenger said, looking back at the Treehouse.   
  
"I'm sure they'll be fine. It's Marguerite that I'm worried about." Roxton said.  
  
"You're right. Those to rascals of yours could stress her into premature labour, " Malone joked.  
  
"Ned! Don't joke." Veronica scolded, "That actually happened last time, remember?"  
  
"Oh, yah." he gulped, "Just teasing Roxton, I'm sure everything will be fine."  
  
  
  
"Mother. what now?" Will asked Marguerite, "We have the Zanga Village, the Summerlee River, the Treehouse, and the Windmill."  
  
"What's next?"Arthur questioned.  
  
"Well, right over here is a volcanic fisher where we almost escaped." she glanced down. They were all hanging on her every word, "well you see, Veronica was out hunting when she found him trying to catch a trig child---"  
  
"That's mean!" Faith shouted.  
  
"Shhh! Faith, we want to hear." Emily said as she kicked her friend sunder the table.  
  
"Emily, don't kick Faith."  
  
"Yes Auntie Marguerite."  
  
"Mommy, keep going!" Faith urged.  
  
"Well her chased her, no longer after the trog, but the jungle beauty."  
  
"Mommy" Arthur whispered.  
  
"That's right." Marguerite confirmed.  
  
"What was his name Mother?" Will prodded.  
  
"Well, Will, his name was..."  
  
  
  
"Avery Burton!"  
  
"Lord John Roxton, so nice to see you doing well."  
  
"I'm sorry to see the same about you!" Veronica spat out at him.  
  
"Well you're as feisty as ever." he laughed.  
  
"What do you want?" Malone questioned him.  
  
"Well you see, the price for a piece of the famous Challenger expedition is just too high to pass up." He grinned evilly "and I happened to know where I could find pieces of all of you."  
  
"You had better be bloody joking." Roxton sneered, thinking of his family back at the treehouse.  
  
"No joke." he said pulling out his gun, "now let's get back to that treehouse of yours ."  
  
"No." Veronica said, standing her ground. That bastard wasn't getting anywhere near Marguerite or the children.  
  
"What ?" he incredulously asked.  
  
"No. " Malone agreed, standing beside his wife.  
  
"Why?" he glanced around, searching the area for clues, "Where's Miss Smith, or Marguerite, or whatever she's goes by now."  
  
Roxton tensed.  
  
"What is she protecting? " he snickered, "I has been awhile since we met, are there little explorers now?"  
  
"We have no idea what you mean." Challenger said moving closer to Roxton.  
  
"Why don't I go see for myself." Avery said as he turned on the balls of his heals and ran toward the treehouse. Quick as a flash, Roxton pulled his Webleys out of their holsters and fired two shots. Avery Burton fell to the ground in a lifeless heap, dead.  
  
  
  
"Can we do the map again Mommy?" Faith asked as she gulped down her fruit.  
  
"When we're finished lunch." Marguerite replied. Arthur had wheedled his way on to what was left of her lap.  
  
" Auntie Marguerite! The baby kicked!" the usually quiet boy squealed, he was as excited as Faith and Will were about the new edition to the treehouse family. He wouldn't be the littlest anymore!  
  
"Can I feel, please?" Emily asked. She was really curious about the little person inside of Marguerite.  
  
"Sure Hun, come here"  
  
After they had gotten bored of poking poor Marguerite in the stomach, and finished their lunches, the map making process began again.  
  
"Okay, so we added the fisher where you almost escaped, the fisher where you met the lady who looked like you, the cave where Veronica let loose the mean giant, and cannibal territory. What else is there? " Faith questioned, speaking for the rest of the group.  
  
"Did we ever tell you about the Amazons? " Marguerite asked the children.  
  
"No, who are they?" Faith questioned.  
  
"Well they're a tribe of all- women-"  
  
"Cool!" William grinned.  
  
Marguerite groaned, "You are so much like your father that it's not funny!"  
  
"What's that 'posed to mean?" the young boy questioned, defending his father.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Continue please," Arthur whispered, his crayon poised above the map-in-progress.  
  
"Well it all started when Challenger saw a strange cocoon and wanted to investigate, " she started.  
  
"Always does," Faith whispered to Emily who burst into giggles.  
  
"As I was saying..."  
  
  
  
"Bloody hell", Roxton cursed. One of the explorers, probably Malone or Challenger had stepped into a trap. Now they were all suspended about six feet above the ground in a huge net.  
  
"Someone's coming." Veronica warned, as she desperately tried to reach for her knife, to no avail.  
  
Four Amazon warriors walked into the clearing where they al hung in the net.  
  
"Well, looked what we caught!" one laughed.  
  
"Don't they look tasty!" another joked.

  
"Hyppolata?" Veronica questioned. The oldest of the Amazon's, probably the leader walked over to them.  
  
"Veronica?" she asked, looking up at the jungle girl.  
  
"Can you get us down? Please".  
  
"Cut them loose!", the Amazon ordered her companions.  
  
A while later, Hyppolata was leading them towards the Amazon village,, where they had been offered shelter for the night.  
  
"How has your village been doing since we last met?" Challenger asked the Amazon.  
  
"Well, remember when we first met, and Malone needed an explanation we said we got together frequently with a neighbouring tribe of men. Then they raised the males and we raised the females?"  
  
"Yes, we remember," Malone said remembering the elaborate fib that he, Roxton and Challenger had been caught up in.  
  
"Well, it has become a reality," she grinned, "and we meet up with the men once every fortnight."  
  
"Fascinating," Challenger said in awe over the developments of the tribe.   
  
"Come, we'll go have supper, then I'll show you to your lodgings," she stopped as she turned around, "where is the dark haired woman?"  
  
"She's back at the Treehouse with the children, " Veronica informed the Amazon.  
  
"You have children? Congratulations."  
  
"Thank you, Ned and I have two, Emily and Arthur."  
  
"And you Lord Roxton?"  
  
"Marguerite and I have two, and another on the way," he proudly told her.  
  
"I have a son myself, he lives with his father," she explained smiling.  
  
Veronica felt glad that even the Amazons had found happiness, while at the same time wishing she could be back at the Treehouse tucking her children into bed.  
  
  
  
After making sure that all of the munchkns had brushed their teeth and combed their hair Marguerite ushered them into what had been dubbed the Nursery. Summerlee's things had been packed away in storage, and two small bunk beds had been built. On the Malone side of the room, Emily had the top bunk, and Arthur had the bottom, because he was littler. however, since the Roxtons were Roxtons there was a small battle every night for the top bunk, tonight that was Will's pleasure.  
  
"Can you tell us a story about you and the other grown-ups on the plateau?" Arthur asked shyly.  
  
"we had stories all day today when we were making our map Arthur," Emily pointed out.  
  
"Can we do the map again tomorrow Mother?" William asked her.  
  
"If you all want to," she said relieved that she didn't have to do anything more strenuous than tell stories.  
  
"Oh, Yes, and then we can show everyone, and hang it up in the main room, right by the elevator!" Fait squealed n delight.  
  
"Then I'll save my plateau stories for tomorrow," the Lady Roxton concluded.  
  
"Will you sing us a song then? Please...." Faith begged her mother.  
  
"Oh Yes Auntie Marguerite!" Emily joined in.  
  
"We won't tell anyone, Mother," Will said trying to convince her.  
  
"Please" Arthur whispered.  
  
Rather that put up a fight, she complied. The children had caught her singing, and she had agreed to treat them every once and a while, as long as they didn't spill the beans. She softly started to lull William, Faith, Emily, and Arthur to sleep with their favourite song and promises of what tomorrow would bring.  
  
  
  
Early the next morning Marguerite awoke to the sound of giggling at the foot of the bed she had shared with her husband for the past nine years. She took a deep breath and popped open her left eye. Just as she suspected, four faces stared at her. She opened the other eye and sat up.  
  
"Good morning Mommy! You're up now, so we can do the map!" Faith smiled.   
  
Marguerite groaned, all she wanted was ten more minutes of sleep.  
  
After breakfast, back in the map shop they had begun again.  
  
"You said you'd tell us a story today.", William pointed out.  
  
"Okay, Okay", she yawned, "How about a Tribune story?"  
  
"Who's Tribune?" Arthur asked.  
  
"Well let me tell you...."  
  
  
  
Meanwhile the other explorers had left the Amazon Village.  
  
"Can't wait to get back to the Treehouse", Malone said.  
  
"We need to catch something to eat first," Roxton pointed out.  
  
"Shh," Veronica warned pointing to the bushes to the left.  
  
The four explorers stopped in their tracks, as Roxton walked over to the bush, gun in hand.  
  
"Tribune!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Lord Roxton, what a surprise to see you here." he grinned.  
  
"We should say the same about you," Challenger chuckled.  
  
"What do you want? Meeting us wasn't by accident , was it?" Malone spoke.  
  
"Is that anyway to treat an old friend?" Tribune sneered.  
  
"What do you want?" Veronica asked him.  
  
"Well, if you would be so kind as to give me the recipe for gunpowder?" Tribune hinted, not subtly.  
  
"Don't you have it?" Maolne questioned him.  
  
"Funny thing happened, " he stated, but thought better of it when he saw the look on John Roxton's face, "we lost it".  
  
"Good." John stated, "it did more harm than good."  
  
"Well I need it," he urged.  
  
"What makes you think that we'll just simply give up the proportions?" Challenger questioned.  
  
"I thought you might need a little persuasion," Tribune grinned.  
  
"What do you mean," Veronica glared at him.  
  
"Well, Marguerite and the small humans would be disappointed if you didn't bring home any meat."  
  
"So..." Malone prodded.  
  
"So, give me the gun powder mixture, and I'll give you this," he pointed as three lizards pulled a large cart of butchered and salted raptor carcases.  
  
"How would we get it home?" Challenger pondered.  
  
"I would have my men bring it to your treehouse." Tribune offered.  
  
"I say you make a deal, Challenger. That would even last our growing families four or five months," Roxton pointed out.  
  
"I agree," Veronica stated. "He has been in control of the gunpowder for the past while."  
  
"Alright," he said to his fellow explorers, "Tribune do you have a pen?"  
  
"That's the spirit, old boy!" Tribune gleefully said passing him a pen and paper.  
  
  
  
"What about physical landmarks?" William asked after they had added a bazillion more items to the map.   
  
"Physical landmarks?" Marguerite asked puzzled.   
  
"Yes, dad says that we should know things like rocks, big trees, rivers and lakes," William said, proudly showing what he knew about survival.  
  
"Well, we have the Summerlee River," Emily pointed out.  
  
"And we have the big tree stump by the waterhole." Faith added.  
  
"We've got the Inland Sea," Arthur whispered.  
  
"Well then we need rocks," William told them.  
  
They all looked expectantly at Marguerite.   
  
"Rocks, rocks, rocks," she muttered to herself. "I know. there are two rocks parallel to each other over here." She pointed to an empty spot on the map.  
  
"There was a T-Rex who had a man stuck between them once."  
  
"Ohhh! A T-Rex?!?" Faith excitedly asked, her eyes sparkling with a sense of adventure she had inherited from her father.  
  
"Roar!" Arthur imitated. Marguerite smiled, then remembered their encounter with the Ghost Ship. She shivered.  
  
"Well you know how silly your father"-she motioned to her children-" and your mother"-to Arthur and Emily-"can be sometimes."  
  
"Oh yeah," Faith giggled.  
  
"Well they decided to play rugby with some T-Rex eggs," Marguerite told them.  
  
"Really?" They all asked wide-eyed.  
  
"Really!" laughed Marguerite.  
  
  
  
"Damn!" Roxton said as he followed Challenger, Malone, and Veronica into a cave. They had been chased for the last 1/4-mile by a T-Rex.  
  
"Certainly didn't give up the chase, did she?" Challenger chuckled.  
  
"We need to get home before dark," Roxton pointed out.  
  
"Yeah, Marguerite will get worried," Veronica added.  
  
"Well it certainly has been an exciting past few days," Malone smiled. "I can't wait to write these adventures down in my journal."  
  
"Maybe we should eat," Roxton suggested. "she doesn't look like she'll be moving anytime soon."  
  
"We could change that," Veronica suggested with a wink at Malone.  
  
"What do you mean?" Malone asked, knowing by her look it was probably dangerous.  
  
"She just needs something to chew on," Veronica told them.  
  
"Are you volunteering?" Roxton laughed.  
  
"No, but I need blood and a shirt," she said as she pointed behind them.  
  
They all turned around to looked at what she was pointing at. There seemed to be a large pile of dead grass.  
  
After Veronica had stole one of Malone's shirts, stuffed it with hay, and used a small donation of Roxton's blood, she smiled at her handiwork.  
  
"All finished."  
  
"Now how do we get it far enough away from the cave to escape?" Roxton prodded.  
  
"Well, I'm the smallest, and fastest runner."  
  
"No!" the three men said in unison.  
  
"But..."  
  
"No," again was the response to her suggestion.  
  
"How about..." she started "...yes!" Quick as a flash she had grabbed the stuffed shirt and was out of the cave.  
  
"Come on!" was what Roxton, Challenger and Malone could hear echoing throughout the cave.  
  
the three of them darted out and joined Veronica who was running away from the terrible dinosaur.  
  
  
  
"Mommy?" Faith nagged.  
  
"Yes, dear?"  
  
"How do we know how far away everything is from each other?"  
  
"Well we could use a symbol."  
  
"What do you mean, Auntie Marguerite?" asked Emily.  
  
"Well, we could put polka dots between each place. One for every hour it takes us to get there," she suggested.  
  
"Like two polka dots to the Summerlee River?" William asked, getting the idea.  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"How about footprints?" Arthur suggested to his sister and friends.  
  
"That's a good idea!" Emily said patting him on the back.   
  
Marguerite sat back and watched the four children figure out how many hours they were from everything. and then making sure each foot had five toes.  
  
"Could this day get any better?' she murmured, actually meaning it.  
  
Later that night, Marguerite paced the balcony. She had put the children to bed over an hour ago, and the others still weren't home. She squinted her eyes and looked over the railing. There they were. She could just barely see their torches.   
  
She darted to bed and pulled up the covers, so that they wouldn't think her crazed.  
  
And a few minutes later, Marguerite heard the familiar rattle of the elevator, then heard them all rush in to see the kids. They all said goodnight and rushed to their own corners of the treehouse, exhausted.  
  
Roxton walked into the bedroom to find his wife asleep. He quickly changed into his nightclothes and snuggled in beside Marguerite.  
  
"Goodnight love," he whispered to the 'sleeping' Marguerite.  
  
"What, not even a kiss?" she teased.  
  
"You're awake?!?" he almost yelled.  
  
"Obviously."  
  
"Well, what did you do while we were gone? Did they drive you crazy?"  
  
"We made a map of the plateau. I told them stories about Amazons, Tribune, Avery Burton and so many other things. It's actually really good," she told him.  
  
Roxton laughed.  
  
"What's so funny, my lord?" Marguerite asked indignantly.  
  
"You'll never guess who we ran into..."  
  
  
THE END 

  
  
  
  


REVIEW!!!!! Tell me what your favourite part was, was kid you liked best, your favourite line, or that you hated and despised it!!!(You had better not though!!!!) I don't care what just give me feed back! Should I do a sequel, should I leave it??? Tell me. All you have to do is click that little button down there in the corner!

  
  


PS- Thanks again Suzie Q!!


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